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Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Operation Alda, or, The Great Korean Adventure

Between July 17th and August 10th I
have been travelling around the world. It would be challenging, I suppose, to
find two more different regions to explore than Canada’s Northwest Territories
and Seoul, South Korea, but those were the two main points of my journeys.

Yellowknife from "The Rock" in Old Town

Phase one of my travels was me meeting my family in
Yellowknife. My parents decided to visit the Northwest Territories given that I
am living up here for the moment and without me here they would likely never
find a reason to head this far north.

Alexandra Falls near Enterprise, NT

I was happy to play tour guide to my family, but it also
gave me an excuse to travel through the territory myself. We spent a few days
in Yellowknife before driving down Highway 3 towards Hay River. The trip was
marred by the incredible fire season that the region has been enduring. The
highway in and out of Yellowknife has been frequently closed between Behchoko
and Fort Providence. We arrived to a blockade and thick smoke, but got lucky
and snuck through on to Hay River and later Fort Smith. The scale of the
Northwest Territories is really difficult to fathom. Whipping along the highway
between the few towns on the route gives a pale impression of its size. I was pleased
to cross the legendary Mackenzie River, see the road from Yellowknife and pass
through an active forest fire. The bison even cooperated and posed for
pictures.

Highway 3 between Behchoko and Fort Providence, NT

After showing my parents around the South Slave and Fort
Smith, the community I currently call home, I returned to work for one day and
then flew from Fort Smith to Edmonton to Vancouver, and the next day I crossed
the Pacific Ocean and met with my dear friends in Seoul, South Korea.

Korea is the first country I have visited outside of
North America. My globetrotting experience is decidedly limited. I would
probably never have visited the country without the kind hospitality and
guidance of my friends.

Side-streets in Seoul

Some general observations, if I may: Korea is a beautiful
country. It has a landscape like nothing I have ever seen before. Unlike the
Rockies or Appalachians the mountains bend and slop erratically with no discernible
pattern. The fields and meadows glow a vibrant green. Seoul is an incredible
city. I remarked on a few occasions that it was like stepping into the future.
I expected crowded, noisy and dense. While the city was dense in was relatively
peaceful and it was rare to be inundated with people. Ironically the big
thoroughfares and avenues were often scarcely peopled, but the side streets
where businesses or markets sat thronged with humanity. English is fairly
ubiquitous in the city. Though I was almost never without my friends I managed
well enough in English and the tiny amount of Korean I picked up during the
trip. The food and the markets and businesses were some of my favourite things.

Largest Palace in Seoul, typhoon clouds mask the mountains.

I did visit the DMZ during my trip with one of my friends
and technically stepped into North Korean territory. It is vaguely horrifying
the contrasts between the nightmare-state of the North and the South. It was
unsettling to be carefully observed by a North Korean guard with binoculars and
see a gaunt labourer take a smoke break. The whole northern region of the
Republic of Korea is militarized and prepared to respond in the event of North
Korean aggression. It is a sword of Damocles that hangs over the country.

North Korean guard eyes tourists through binoculars.

Visiting a foreign country definitely shines light on to
your preconceived notions of how life “naturally” should be structured. How
Koreans work, live and play offered a somewhat stunning alternative. Unfortunately
there were dark sides to the country, though those rarely affected me directly.

The best part of my trip was spending time with my three
friends from university and getting insight into their lives in that foreign
land. I gained an appreciation for what has kept them there for three years. The
trip was made all the better through insider context from people with a similar
worldview and experience to my own. I highly recommend visiting the country,
though perhaps not in the peak of summer, sweet mother of God was it hot...